Modeling and Simulation for Transport Planning

Transport planning is a technical and political decision-making process based on rationality, aimed at defining and implementing transport infrastructures and their operations, and mobility management, in order to achieve the objectives reflecting the collective preferences of a community within a territory. Modeling and simulation for transport planning have developed and expanded in the last decades to predict the potential impacts of alternative transport scenarios and policies. However, there are still some limitations, and the gap between research and practice is wide. A trade-off between model sophistication and user-friendliness is needed, especially considering the importance of involving non-experts in participatory transport planning processes. This chapter will provide an overview of the main approaches to modeling and simulation for transport planning and underline future research and practice-ready directions.